Prov. 6: 16-19. These six things doth the LORD hate: Yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren.

Sometimes, words I type jump out of the screen and scream at me ‘Hypocrite!’ This will, undoubtedly, be one of those times, and I pray for a repentant heart. As a rule of thumb, if the Bible says God hates or loves something, it is good to read that again with your glasses on. Yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look… I can look at pride in 2 ways, though they are related. The first is one way the Bible describes ‘Pride’ that somehow most Christians seem oblivious of, so I will start with this one. It involves pride with respect to God.

A good way to understand ‘pride’ is to understand its opposite: humility. And it goes to say, that if God hates pride, he loves humility. Peter said something interesting in 1 Peter 5:5-7. …and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Did you notice the language? The path of humility is in casting all your care upon him. I can paraphrase this passage as: The proud person doesn’t consider God as his Source and Sustenance, and God resists him; the humble is completely dependent on God and falls on God, and God lifts him up. Psalm 10:4 says “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” Do you see it? A lack of a time of study of the Word is a proud look. A lack of prayer time is a proud look. A lack of fellowship is a proud look. Making plans in life without consulting God through the Scripture is a proud look! Paint this picture in your mind’s eye of a man thumping his nose, raising a clenched fist to the heavens and saying “I can do it myself God! I don’t need you! I am in charge of my life! This is my show. Don’t interfere. I am my own god now. Keep far from me and we can meet only on Sundays.” That is what happens when we leave God out of our lives whether you say those words or not. And God says “…I hate a proud look…I will resist you”. Romans 8:31 says “if God be for us, who can be against us?” Hmmm…. If God be against you, who can be for you you?

However, the humble person’s blueprint to life is in Proverbs 3:5-6.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.”

The second way to consider pride is in relation to others. Apostle Paul admonishes the Church in Phillipi in this way: “…in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Phil. 2:3b-4. Have you ever met someone like this? I have recently, a man named Dave Roy. No job is beneath them, no body is below them. Humanity needs to protect them at all cost because they are an endangered specie. It is just a rare sight in this age. It is completely counterculture. This is the age of the ‘self-esteem’ movement. “I must look out for me”. “Me first! Then, maybe, you later.” “I can’t pour from an empty cup.” Have you noticed a boom in the market for self-help? Worse is the false reality of self that is being sold to us, that makes us struggle to acquire possessions and power. It permeates everything. That is why we can use language like “Do you know who I am?” and “I don’t blame you, you don see me finish”. We place immense boastful pride in our jobs, professions, titles, bank accounts, principles, relationships and connections. Have you ever come to terms with your own mortality? Truly. You sit down in contemplation and deeply realize that you are not immortal and someday you are going to die?

1 Peter 1:24-25 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever.

It is all going to burn someday. The humble doesn’t boast in any of these or puts his trust in them. Psalm 34:2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. The humble knows that, but for the Cross, they have no other hope. True humility flows out of intimacy with God. The more intimate a person is with God, the more humble they’ll be! The more you gaze at him, the more you study and learn about him, the more you see how filthy you are, the deeper you realize how immeasurably small you are. In his book, Isaiah in chapter 6: 1-4 saw a vision of the Lord sitting upon a throne. His response in verse 5 is this: Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Sometimes, even just seeing an Angel makes people in the Bible fall down on their face, that the Angel will have to caution them not to do that. The clearer the vision of God you have, the clearer the vision of yourself. That’s when you begin to realize how worthless you are apart from him. The humble may be wealthy, or in positions of power, but the verses of the old hymn is their lifestyle:

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.